Why Coyotes in Stanley Park Became Aggressive Towards People

Coyotes are now a common presence in urban areas throughout North America, although attacks on humans are still exceptionally uncommon.

After dozens of people suffered bites or scratches in Vancouver’s Stanley Park during the pandemic, researchers set out to establish what had altered. Their conclusion placed human behaviour at the centre of the problem.

A recent study concluded that feeding coyotes, combined with greater human use of the park, weakened the animals’ instinctive wariness of people.

That combination produced the circumstances for an extraordinary rise in aggressive incidents.

The results indicate that avoiding conflict depends less on removing coyotes than on curbing the behaviours that prompt them to seek people out.

Crowds changed coyote behaviour

Stanley Park, a 405-hectare expanse of woodland and seawall beside central Vancouver, had long been home to coyotes that largely went unnoticed. During the pandemic, however, offices emptied while park paths became busier.

From December 2020 to August 2021, there were 45 recorded bite or scratch attacks in the park, as well as 63 additional encounters in which a coyote lunged at or threatened a person.

Wildlife officers ultimately killed 11 coyotes to regain control of the situation.

Nathan Lewis, a doctoral candidate in zoology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), headed the investigation into the cause of the problem.

He worked with the study’s senior author, Sarah Benson-Amram, an associate professor who leads the university’s urban carnivore lab.

The researchers reviewed records of these encounters, distinguishing aggressive episodes from routine sightings to identify the differences between them.

Humans become harmless to coyotes

Coyotes are instinctively cautious around people, and this natural suspicion generally keeps them away. Gradually, the park’s increased human presence diminished that response.

After repeated quiet and uneventful interactions with people, the animals seem to have learnt that humans were not dangerous.

Biologists describe this as habituation: a process in which an animal loses its fear after repeatedly experiencing the same harmless stimulus.

Feeding changed a merely tolerant neighbour into a confident one. Lewis’s team uncovered anecdotal accounts of people giving food to coyotes; once an animal associates humans with an effortless meal, a process called food conditioning, it deliberately begins to approach them.

Vancouver is not an isolated example. A previous review of coyote attacks in the United States and Canada identified the same mix of causes behind aggressive conduct, repeatedly linking feeding to incidents.

Coyotes become too comfortable around people

The shift can be seen in particular animals. UBC had a well-known coyote called Kip, which spent years walking around the campus in daylight, clearly used to people and seemingly fed by them.

Although he never bit a person, he snapped at dogs in front of their owners, behaviour that a truly wild coyote would almost never display.

This ease around people is precisely the concern. “When coyotes are comfortable with people, it can lead to conflicts, and ultimately it’s not in their, or our, best interests,” said Lewis.

What increases attack odds

Establishing that habituation and feeding create the conditions for conflict still left a more difficult issue: what causes a normal coyote sighting to become a bite?

The researchers compared aggressive incidents with routine encounters to pinpoint the circumstances associated with a greater likelihood of attack.

Several factors emerged. People running or jogging, walking by themselves, or travelling during the quieter periods of early morning and late night had marginally higher odds.

The same was true for people close to a coyote den, where the animals are especially defensive of their pups.

Two factors commonly thought to be important had no effect. The victim’s age did not change the odds and, to the surprise of many dog owners, neither did being accompanied by a dog.

The circumstances, rather than the individual involved, determined the risk.

The role of food scarcity

A different study examining severe coyote attacks found that food shortages, as well as food provided by people, may drive the animals towards humans.

This shows that no single explanation accounts for every incident.

Nevertheless, coyotes are not a threat in themselves.

“The vast majority of encounters with coyotes are not aggressive, but nobody saw the Stanley Park attacks coming, so we shouldn’t wait to start seeing early signs of conflicts,” said Lewis.

Killing coyotes isn’t the answer

Following a series of attacks, killing coyotes may seem an obvious response. However, the researchers state plainly that it is not an effective long-term solution.

Coyotes reproduce rapidly and move back into vacant areas, while relocating them is illegal across much of North America and often has poor outcomes both for the animals and for those already living in the release area.

There is also an argument for their continued presence. In cities, coyotes hunt rats and other rodents, discreetly limiting populations that most residents would prefer not to have nearby.

“If you’re not a fan of rats, you should be a fan of coyotes,” said Benson-Amram.

Living safely alongside coyotes

Coexistence is therefore the practical aim, and the study translates its findings into useful guidance.

Do not feed coyotes or leave food waste within their reach, as this is what begins the progression towards bolder behaviour.

When a coyote approaches, make yourself appear large and make noise. Wave your arms, shout, or repeatedly open and close an umbrella rather than running, as running may provoke a chase. The evidence supports sensible caution rather than fear.

Broader implications of the study

The implications extend far beyond a single park in Vancouver.

Coyotes now inhabit cities across the continent, and research based on reports from residents elsewhere has found that most encounters with them occur without trouble.

A dangerous coyote is generally made rather than born. The Stanley Park case shows that habituation and readily available food, rather than inherent aggression, create this risk.

Cities can lower the likelihood of later attacks by securing rubbish, deterring feeding, and directing people away from the highest-risk times and locations instead of resorting to shooting coyotes.